Rape Of The Lock And Paradise Lost - 1308 Words

Rape of the lock vs Paradise lost The Rape of the Lock employs many of the traditional epic conventions used in Paradise Lost, but instead of recounting a story of a hero whose actions are of great importance or of national significance, The Rape of the Lock tells one of a timid character that makes an adventure out of the attainment of a fair damsel’s lock of hair. It uses the conventions of an epic poem on a miniature scale and the meaning of the subject is very much trivial. Since epics are traditionally long narrative poems written in a grand style to suit its important subject matter, the Rape of the lock can be described as a mock epic, for it uses this same elaborate language to address seemingly inconsequential matters, which in this case is of a stolen lock of hair. In the mock epic, the conerns of society are trivialized and mocked through the employment of an elevated literary genre. First off, in the beginning of an epic, the poet makes an invocation or prayer to a muse, for divine encouragement in the creation of an eternal and praiseworthy piece of writing that tells the tale of a great hero, as seen in Paradise Lost: Illumin, what is low raise and support; That to the highth of this great Argument I may assert Eternal Providence, And justifie the wayes of God to men. Alexander Pope, however, invokes his catholic friend John Caryll instead as a muse to enlighten him and provide him with supernatural assistance to narrate a story of not a grandShow MoreRelatedJohn Milton s Paradise Lost And Alexander Pope s The Rape Of The Lock1220 Words   |  5 Pageshis goals, and the use of epic similes is apparent. Several of these epic conventions are seen throughout John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock. Paradise Lost is predominantly centered on the supernatural. It focuses on the story of Adam and Eve and how they lost their â€Å"paradise.† There are a couple arguments on who the real hero in Paradise Lost is. Some support Satan and others take Adam’s side. Adam satisfies most of the epic conventions, but he is portrayedRead More Milton Vs Pope Essay593 Words   |  3 Pagesnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In Paradise Lost, Adam and Eve commit the first sin, and from this point on, all other sins are mere copies of this. Alexander Pope uses this to his benefit when he depicts the crime in The Rape of the Lock. By alluding to Miltonamp;#8217;s work, Pope is able to comically refer to the cutting of a lock of hair as a tragic and epic event. In doing this, he paradoxically assumes that the crime is not one of personal fault, but one fated to happen by God, just as in Paradise Lost. amp;#8220;WhatRead MoreAnalysis Of John Milton s Paradise Lost 1253 Words   |  6 Pagesimportant his writing is through epic metaphors and masterful language. In Paradise Lost, he tells his audience that this will the epic to end all epics and that this is the most important tale of all mankind: the fall of Man. Comparatively, Alexander Pope used the same style of epic not to tell an important tale, but to question much of the life of aristocracy in his time. In his mock epic, Rape of the Lock, Pope alludes to Paradise Lost in order to point out the trivialities of the aristocracy in his lifeRead MoreAlexander Pope s The Rape Of The Lock1340 Words   |  6 Pagesrecognized parodies of this kind would be Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock. The Rape of the Lock is a story about taking a minor incident and satirizing it by making it into a huge and important epic of divine proportions. One might think of the phrase â€Å"a tempest in a teapot†, which perfectly describes this poem. In the poem, the main character, a girl named Belinda, has her hair unwillingly cut by a baron, and the struggle to regain her lost hair even pulls in mythical creatures like sylphs to describeRead MoreRape of the Lock by Alexander Pope Essay596 Words   |  3 PagesRape of the Lock by Alexander Pope Alexander Popes The Rape of the Lock is not studied and admired only because of its style and form, but also for its base content and underlying themes. Popes ability to manipulate text into mock-heroic form, constructing a flow of satirical description is what makes this poem one of such quality. The piece was first published in 1712 by the request of Popes friend, John Caryll. It was to make peace between the Fermors and Petres, two prominent RomanRead MoreCritical Analysis of the Rape of the Lock by Pope1633 Words   |  7 PagesThe destruction of the grand style of the epic is just what Pope was after in his mock epic, The Rape of the Lock. Pope had no such universal goal, or moral pronouncements to make as did Milton. His purpose was merely to expose the life of the nobility of his time. While Milton chose blank verse to express the immensity of the landscape of his epic, Pope chose to utilize the heroic couplet to trivialize this grandeur. Popes quick wit bounces the reader along his detailed description of his parlor-roomRead MoreSusan Sontag s Notes On Camp1945 Words   |  8 Pagescritic is often the basis for Pope’s poetry, as he draws on the popularity of criticism and novelty to satirise and condescend. The Rape of the Lock, another Mock Epic written by Pope is not strictly mock-epic. The style of writing acts as a prime feature of the satire. The ridiculous failure to reach sublimity of the epic is an important part of The Rape of the Lock, with a small act of cutting Arabella Fermor’s hair is blown out of proportion. It is based on an actual event, in which John CaryllRead MoreThe Nobel Prize in Literature 1993 .. Toni Morrison3002 Words   |  13 Pagesarming; slaughtered and slaughtering in the malls, courthouses, post offices, playgrounds, bedrooms and boulevards; stirring, memorializing language to mask the pity and waste of needless death. There will be more diplomatic language to countenance rape, torture, assassination. There is and will be more seductive, mutant language designed to throttle women, to pack their throats like patà ©-producing geese with their own unsayable, transgressive words; there will be more of the language of surveillanceRead MoreRhetorical D evices3007 Words   |  13 Pagesmasquerade, | | |Or lose her heart, or necklace, at a ball | | |(Pope, Rape of the Lock) | Tropes |antithesis |opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a parallel construction | | Read MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 PagesRamone, look at those two white guys on the other side of the street. They look friendly. The blond guy with him looks like he would rip your lungs out just to see what would happen. The other one is just as fierce, and hes carrying the radio I lost yesterday; its got my sticker on the side. If Ramone leaves believing that the two guys are friendly because his friend said, They look friendly, then he has violated some principle of logical reasoning. What principle? ï‚ · Reasons should